How

Depletion of the body snatchers: bad news for marine environment

7/28/2011

Gland, Switzerland/Arlington, VA — A recent study conducted
for The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM has
determined that 20 percent of hagfish species are at an elevated risk of
extinction*. Scientists warn that this figure could be much higher.

The results of this research, carried out in association with
Conservation International (CI), indicate that the primary
causes of hagfish declines are the direct and indirect effects of fisheries.

Hagfish represent an ancient and unique evolutionary lineage; as bottom
feeders they play an important role by cleaning the ocean floor and recycling
nutrients into the food web which maintains the overall health of the ecosystems
they inhabit.

"By consuming the dead and decaying carcasses that have fallen to the ocean
floor, hagfish clean the floor creating a rich environment for other species
including commercial fish such as cod, haddock and flounder," says
Landon Knapp, research assistant for the IUCN Marine Biodiversity Unit
at Old Dominion University and lead author of the study. "The presence
of hagfish in areas of intense fishing is extremely important as large amounts
of bycatch are discarded."

Particular areas of concern highlighted in the study include southern
Australia, where the only hagfish species present is threatened, and the coast
of southern Brazil. Also of concern are the species found in the East China Sea,
the Pacific coast of Japan, and coastal Taiwan; in these areas, four of the 13
hagfish species occurring are threatened with extinction.

"In many geographic regions, only one or two hagfish species are present, and
therefore the loss or decline of even a single species in these areas will have
detrimental effects on ecosystems as a whole, as well as the fisheries that
depend on them," says Dr Michael Mincarone, Professor of Zoology at
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, an author of the study.

Fisheries worldwide directly profit from the harvesting of hagfish, such as
Myxine garmani (Vulnerable) and Eptatretus burgeri (Near Threatened) for leather
and food. Hagfish are also an important part of the food chain, being prey for
fishes, seabirds and even marine mammals, including seals. When fishing pressure
was focused on hagfish in certain locations in the north-western Atlantic, the
stock of other commercial species, such as flounder, plummeted.

Overexploitation and destructive fishing practices are major threats to
several hagfish species, including Myxine paucidens and Paramyxine taiwanae,
both listed as Endangered. No current conservation measures or legislation exist
to protect hagfish populations.

"Additional data is required and controls for the regulation and management
of hagfish fisheries and other threats to hagfish populations are urgently
needed to ensure the survival of these important species," says Dr Kent
Carpenter, Professor at Old Dominion University, manager of IUCN's Marine
Biodiversity Unit and an author of the paper.

"Hagfish are a great example of one of those 'not-so-cute' species that play
a vital role in ecosystem health," says Cristiane Elfes, Programme
Officer for the CI-IUCN Biodiversity Assessment Unit. "This study
highlights the impact we have on hagfish and the importance of protecting them
to maintain the stability of ocean ecosystems."

*For those groups that have been comprehensively assessed on the IUCN Red
List, the percentage of threatened species can be calculated, but the actual
number of threatened species is often uncertain because it is not known whether
Data Deficient (DD) species are actually threatened or not. Therefore, the
percentage presented above provides the best estimate of extinction risk for
this group (excluding Extinct species), based on the assumption that Data
Deficient (DD) species are equally threatened as data sufficient species. In
other words, this is a mid-point figure within a range from x% threatened
species (if all DD species are not threatened) to y% threatened species (if all
DD species are threatened). Available evidence indicates that this is a best
estimate.

For example, for hagfishes, 20 percent of species (excluding DD species) are
threatened, although the precise figure is uncertain and could lie between 12
percent (if all DD species are not threatened) and 51 percent (if all DD species
are threatened).

The hagfish
assessments

The hagfish assessments are a part of the Global Marine Species Assessment's
mission to complete more than 20,000 marine species assessments for inclusion on
the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Global Marine Species Assessment
Unit (GMSA), or Marine Biodiversity Unit, is a joint initiative of IUCN and
Conservation International. The GMSA is headquartered in the Department of
Biology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and is largely enabled
by the generous support of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Tom
Haas.

Complete results of the hagfish species assessments are published on the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org).

The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species™

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ (or the IUCN Red List) is the
world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status
of plant, fungi and animal species. It is based on an objective system for
assessing the risk of extinction of a species should no conservation action be
taken.

Species are assigned to one of eight categories of threat based on whether
they meet criteria linked to population trend, population size and structure and
geographic range. Species listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered or
Vulnerable are collectively described as 'Threatened'.

The IUCN Red List is not just a register of names and associated threat
categories. It is a rich compendium of information on the threats to the
species, their ecological requirements, where they live, and information on
conservation actions that can be used to reduce or prevent extinctions.

The IUCN Red List is a joint effort between IUCN and its Species Survival
Commission, working with its Red List partners BirdLife International; Botanic
Gardens Conservation International; Conservation International; NatureServe;
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Sapienza University of Rome; Texas A&M
University; Wildscreen; and Zoological Society of London.www.iucnredlist.org

The IUCN Red List threat
categories

The IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows, in descending order of
threat:

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with
global extinction

Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be
threatened without ongoing specific conservation measures

Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction

Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data

Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct): this is not a new IUCN Red List
Category, but is a flag developed to identify those Critically Endangered
species that are in all probability already Extinct but for which confirmation
is required, for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and
failing to find any individuals.

About IUCNIUCN, the International Union for
Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most
pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific
research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments,
NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop
policy, laws and best practice. The world's oldest and largest global
environmental network, IUCN is a democratic membership union with more than
1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer
scientists and experts in some 160 countries. IUCN's work is supported by over
1,000 professional staff in 60 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO
and private sectors around the world. IUCN's headquarters are located in Gland,
near Geneva, in Switzerland. www.iucn.orgIUCN on FacebookIUCN on Twitter

About the Species Survival CommissionThe Species
Survival Commission (SSC) is the largest of IUCN's six volunteer commissions
with a global membership of around 7500 experts. SSC advises IUCN and its
members on the wide range of technical and scientific aspects of species
conservation, and is dedicated to securing a future for biodiversity. SSC has
significant input into the international agreements dealing with biodiversity
conservation. www.iucn.org/species

About Conservation InternationalBuilding upon a strong
foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, Conservation
International empowers societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature,
our global biodiversity, for the long term well-being of people. Founded in
1987, CI has headquarters in the Washington, DC area, and nearly 900 employees
working in more than 30 countries on four continents, plus 1,000+ partners
around the world. For more information, visit www.conservation.org and follow us on Twitter: @ConservationOrg or Facebook: www.facebook.com/conservation.intl

About Old Dominion UniversityOld Dominion University is
Virginia's forward-focused, public doctoral research university for
high-performing students from around the world. The university has 26 research
centers and a total enrollment of 24,000 students.http://www.odu.edu

About Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroFounded in
1920, the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) is one of the largest
public universities in Brazil, with 139 courses offered by 29 academic units
distributed in two campuses located in Rio de Janeiro and Macaé. About 36,000
students are enrolled on education, research, and extension projects through
scientific, artistic and cultural activities. For more information, visit http://www.ufrj.br.